1. Field of Art
The invention generally relates to the field of soil measurement and testing and in particular to automated measurement and testing of soil properties.
2. Background Information
Traditionally, a raw soil sample is processed by first completely drying it and then thoroughly grinding it so that it has a uniform moisture content and can be easily subsampled. This enables a soil sample to be efficiently processed at a low cost. However, the process of drying and grinding a soil sample can drastically change the resulting soil nutrient measurements. In particular, potassium levels can vary substantially with soil type and extent of drying performed before processing the sample.
More agronomically representative results can be achieved by performing field-moist analysis, instead of using a drying and grinding process. In one embodiment, a soil sample solution is prepared by combining a raw soil sample and an extractant (e.g., deionized water). Field-moist analysis is then performed on the solution. In order to increase the accuracy of the analysis, it is helpful to clean the equipment between soil samples.